The invention relates to a device for emptying hot particle material from a chamber into a transport container of the type and to aiding withdrawal of the powder.
It is in practice already known that the transport container, carried by an overhead crane in an industrial hall, has a first pipe such as a telescopic pipe that can be inserted into the particle material in the chamber, and a second pipe that is connected to a vacuum source via a powder separator, wherein the first and second pipes communicate with the upper part of the container and are spaced from each other, wherein the container has an outlet in its lower, downwardly narrowing part, said outlet being provided with a valve, for evacuation of particle material deposited in the container, and wherein a vertical chute which surrounds the outlet valve and extends downwardly therefrom, has an evacuation pipe connected to a negative pressure source for withdrawal of dust from the shaft when the container is being emptied.
A device of the type indicated is used, for instance, in plants producing graphite electrodes by a corresponding green electron being lowered into a chamber filled with particle material such as coal dust heated to high temperature. To enable removal of the finished electrode from the chamber, the hot coal particles must first be removed, after which the hot coal particles can be re-used in a similar chamber into which a green electrode has been inserted. Normally the hot particle material must be cooled before it can be introduced into a chamber for embedding a green electrode.